December 25, 2020
WELCOME TO ST ANDREW’S ON THE TERRACE
At this time of year, we think of people who are special to us, those who we meet and interact with,
and also those who have gone before.
And we give thanks for this day and our traditions.
AS WE GATHER TODAY
We come this morning on this festive day, at this special time,
searching for a reality present within and beyond our everyday lives.
We come hoping to touch that “something more” in the stories of Jesus as we celebrate his birth so long ago,
seeking a renewed perspective how we might follow in “The Way” that meant so much to his disciples and others.
So, we make time now to calm and centre ourselves,
inviting the Spirit to open our eyes to wonder and surprise.
Silence
WE SING OUR PROCESSIONAL HYMN
Always there is a carol waiting for a voice HISO 6 Words Shirley Erena Murray
Music Colin Gibson
Always there is a carol waiting for a voice
always there is a candle waiting for a flame
always there is an angel telling us “Rejoice!”
So, sing the carol,
light the candle,
join the angel praise,
Christmas is the day of all days!
Always when we seek it shines the Christmas star,
always God is present could we only see,
always God enfolds us, holds us where we are.
So, sing the carol,
light the candle,
join the angel praise,
Christmas is the day of all days!
Always out of darkness, countering the strife,
always comes the Christ child leading us to peace:
always there is a baby, crying for a life.
So, sing the carol,
light the candle,
join the angel praise,
Christmas is the day of all days!
WELCOME
Kia ora tatou.
Kia ora.
WE LIGHT THE CHRIST CANDLE
We light the candle for the arrival of the baby
by lantern, by stars, by candlelight, by tinsel
by the excited light in the eyes of children,
the glory of the Lord is reflected this Christmas.
We light this candle to celebrate the light
of God’s presence come among us.
And we say together
E te whānau, brothers and sisters,
Christ is born anew among us today!
Gracious God, on this most holy of days,
may Christ be our light.
For the life that was the light of all people
we light this candle. Amen.
WE PRAY
After which today we will follow with the Abba Prayer and let us say together the Abba prayer
God, lover of us all, most holy one.
Help us to respond to you.
To create what you want for us here on earth.
Give us today enough for our needs.
Forgive our weak and deliberate offences,
just as we must forgive others when they hurt us.
Help us to resist evil and to do what is good.
For we are yours, endowed with your power
to make our world whole. Amen.
READING THE CWS STORY ABOUT AARAV JOHN MORGAN
When I was hungry…”
75 years ago, New Zealanders sent urgently needed funds to help feed the starving people in war-shattered Europe in the first CWS Christian Appeal. Today we face a pandemic, bringing hunger much closer to home. To children like Aarav in Fiji.
Aarav lives in a sinking swamp on the outskirts of the capital city Suva. He is our neighbour’s child, and his tummy is rumbling with hunger. Covid 19 has destroyed the livelihood of Aarav’s family. By herself, his mother cannot give her children enough healthy food. They live in a humble home on stilts beside a “street” of old truck tires filled with swamp mud. The stench of sewage and garbage can be unbearable. They have no land or soil to grow food. Aarav walks a mile to school where he is teased cruelly for being so poor. His mum says, “if the kids don’t take lunch to school, other children make fun of them.”
By donating to the 75th Christmas Appeal you will help make sure families like Aarav’s have the food they need today and for tomorrow. You will be supporting a campaign to spread the Food Bank message across the Pacific. Growing food on vacant land, sharing seeds and teaching new methods. You will help families better survive the loss of jobs and be prepared for more intense natural disasters that have come with the hotter climate. With this Food Bank project, the Pacific Conference of Churches and groups are providing school lunches for children whose families cannot afford food. A big smile flashes across Aarav’s face when he sees his lunch of cassava and stir-fry. And half an apple. Today he will have the energy to learn. School lunches have never been better.
His mum says “This program has been a great help. We are so grateful that the children can go to school and have healthy meals, which would be unaffordable – with so many parents being laid off after Covid 19.” Right now, Aarav gets only two or three lunches a week. It’s a good start, but not enough. How can Aarav possibly learn and thrive when he is always hungry?
PASSING THE PEACE
Feel free to pass the peace with those nearby or move to greet others further away. Traditionally we used to Pass the Peace by shaking hands and saying “Peace be with you.”. Now that Covid is here we ask that you Pass the Peace without shaking hands. It is still appropriate to say “ Peace be with you” and you can reply “And with you.” Or, simply saying “Hello” is a good idea. Also feel free to simply observe how you wish!
WE SING
Now the star of Christmas shines into our day HIOS 105 Words Shirley Erena Murray
Music Colin Gibson
Now the star of Christmas shines into our day,
points a new direction: change is on the way –
there’s another landscape to be travelled through,
there’s a new-born spirit broadening our view.
When the Christ of Christmas speaks to heart and mind,
clears the clouded vision hurting humankind,
kindred spirits gather drawn toward the light,
sharing revelation, joyful at the sight.
If we choose to follow, we may yet be wise.
Where the three kings travel, three great faiths arise:
Jesus Christ for Christmas, Jesus, Judah’s son,
Prophet for the Muslim, wisdom in each one.
Where this star enlightens light is shared around.
God has drawn no borders, faith sees common ground:
Peace the hopeful journey, justice without bar,
God’s illumination from the Christmas star.
WE LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT AND WROTE LONG AGO
From the Gospel John 1: 1 – 14 John Harper
REFLECTION
“How did Christmas start - what do we make of it now?” Barrie Keenan
FOLLOWED BY SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT – TO MEDITATE ON:
Jesus, we in New Zealand remember and celebrate your birth today.
In your life you failed to come up to people’s expectations.
Faced with testing situations you were outrageously inventive.
In human relationships you were outrageously imaginative, compassionate and straight speaking.
Your love for the poor shows you to be outrageously committed to justice. You lacked balance, were short of diplomatic skills.
Yet you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
In the light of your life, human expectations need to be revised. What would happen if we became as unbalanced and as outrageous as you were?
and ponder what it could mean for you in 2021!
WE SING
“Dream a dream a hopeful dream” FFS 32 Words Shirley Erena Murray
Music Nigel Eastgate
Dream a dream, a hopeful dream
as children do on Christmas Eve,
imaginings, surprising things to hold and to believe.
Dream a time this Christmas time
when no one’s hungry or afraid; that weapons go
and harvest grow, that friends are met and made.
Dream a peace, our planet’s peace,
The greening of the earth at play, the holy ground
where life is found, God has touched the clay.
Dream a gift, the Christmas gift
changes everything we see: the shimmering
of angel wing, the Child the Mystery.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Ken Irwin
PRAYER FOR ST ANDREW’S
Renew your people, God,
and renew our life in this place.
Give us a new spirit of unity
with all who follow the Way of Jesus
and new bonds of love
with people of other faiths.
Bless this city in which we live
that it may be a place
where honest dealing,
good government,
and the desire for beauty,
and the care for others flourish.
Bless this church
that what we know of your will
may become what we do,
and what we believe
the strong impulse
of our worship and work.
Amen
CONTEMPORARY READING Jenn Keenan
‘Joy returns’ by Barbara Sampson
Refresh Journal of Contemplative Spirituality Volume 20, No 1 Winter 2019
At our service on Christmas morning last year this poem “Joy returns” by Barbara Sampson was read by Frances Porter. We read it again this year thinking of her today – remembering Frances, and all she contributed to our faith community.
Joy returns
After the quaking shaking breaking
not in great gushes
or bucket loads
but in gentle drops
like rain on newly sown carrot seeds
or tears of welcome over a new baby.
Joy comes
just a glimpse
a glance
a sudden lifting of hope
like an old familiar friend
awaiting my return,
even as I long and wait for her.
WE SING THE TRADITIONAL HYMN
“O come all Ye faithful” WOV 228
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant
O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
True God of true God, light of light eternal,
lo, he abhors not the virgin’s womb;
Son of the father, begotten not created:
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
See how the shepherds summoned to his cradle,
leaving their flocks, draw nigh with holy fear;
we too will thither bend our joyful footsteps:
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
sing all ye citizens of heaven above,
Glory to God, glory in the highest
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Yea, Lord we greet thee, born this happy morning.
Jesus to thee be glory given;
word of the father, now in flesh appearing.
O come, let us adore Him, O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
BLESSING https://progressivechristianityaotearoa.com/2014/11/19/blessings/
May the splash of rangimarie peace,
the blossom of tumanako hope
the vibrance of harikoa joy and
the warmth of arohanui love
cradle us.
SUNG AMEN
THANK YOU
THANK YOU Peter Franklin
Our Musician today